


He's happy

by PannyBx



Series: They deserve to be happy [1]
Category: Criminal Minds, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Meet the Family, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 12:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3851353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PannyBx/pseuds/PannyBx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The BAU team is about to meet Spencer's partner of over six months, who they've only just been told about.<br/>Pictures of a tall, awkward genius to match their tall, awkward genius running through their minds, they can't wait to meet them.</p><p>Only the man they meet isn't exactly how they pictured. Tall? Yes. Genius? No. Awkward? No, they don't think he can even feel embarrassment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He's happy

Derek walked into the pub with Garcia, who was all but trembling in her excitement. Everyone on the team had been invited and not one had passed up the chance; even Emily had got away from her CIA office. This was- possibly- a unique, once in a life-time, never happened before opportunity.

They were meeting Spencer’s partner, of half a year, for the first time. _The first time!_

Honestly, thought Morgan, shaking his head, what was Reid thinking? Sure they were protective of pretty boy, but it’s not like _Spencer_ of all people was going to end up with someone that would get their hackles up. After Maeve, someone who Spencer had genuinely loved, most of the team felt like they had a good grip on what type of person she- or he, as it turns out- was going to be like.

God, had that been a conversation!

A few months back, Garcia and JJ had teamed up to try and get Spencer to ask out a new girl in a different department, who walked around Reid with hearts in her eyes and sighing at his rambles. Eventually, JJ had burst out- “Come on Spence! You don’t know if you don’t talk to her properly! Hell, you might end up marrying her!”

Spencer hadn’t missed a beat, “JJ, when I get married, whoever he or she is, they will not be someone who admitted that they wouldn’t tolerate their partner drinking caffeine.” Spencer shuddered at the memory of that conversation; Spencer had much experience in awkward moments and … that had been awkward. He paused, waiting for the counter argument, when he realised that the entire team was looking at him, slightly wide-eyed, even Rossi and Hotch had bent around to stare. “You’re freaking me out.”

“He or she and gender neutral pronouns, Reid?” Kate had raised an eyebrow, but was smiling.

“Yes… I’m pansexual, why wouldn’t I-“but then he stopped. “Are you guys really saying that I’ve been working for ten years with world-experts on human behaviour, and not one of you knew?” Spencer found this very amusing, wearing a half smile around for the rest of the day and teasing them mercilessly for missing ‘the obvious’. The team were so caught in the revelation (“this just opened up a whole new level, JJ, we will find someone for our genius! The target audience just doubled!”) that they never noticed Spencer had said ‘when.’

It made sense, really, when Derek thought about it later. After all, he had fallen in love with Maeve without even looking at her.

The team sat down at the bar, waiting for a table and, more importantly, the appearance of the couple. “So…we’re in a mutant-friendly pub, think our man’s a mutant?” Emily asked.

Spencer and Gideon both were mutants. Gideon had very strong empathy, while Spencer was clairvoyant; he could pick up emotional imprints on objects and, if Spencer focused, visions of the past, present and future, connected to that object. Strangely, his extreme intelligence had nothing to do with his mutation, and neither did his Asperger’s. Spencer did have a slight physical mutation, unlike Gideon; when he particularly emotional, or concentrating on his gift, coloured sparks danced in his irises. When Gideon had introduced Spencer as a mutant he had been so shocked at their casual acceptance; even in the BAU, which was known for being completely against all forms of discrimination- specifically, Aaron Hotchner’s team.

“You know it’s a bloke?” Rossi was confused; Reid had, to his knowledge, deliberately left out any clues about his partner.

“We’ve seen him have a crush on girls before, if it was a girl, I reckon he would’ve slipped and said ‘she’.”

“Nah, Reid’s sneaky as hell when he wants to be, he wouldn’t have slipped either way.” Derek was certain.

“Alright, I bet a twenty that Reid’s got a boyfriend. Anyone in?” “Another twenty that he/she is a mutant.” Garcia had a _vibe_.

“Ah… twenty on a mutant girl.” JJ always thought Spencer would end up with a girl, ever since his crush on Lila.

Everyone chimed in their bets, except from Hotch, whose face was set in his work-grim lines and eyes were fixed on the door.

“Hotch? You alright?” Kate was the first to notice outside Derek.

“Fine.”

Derek knew otherwise; he’ll admit to being very protective over Reid, but, every now and then, Hotch said something or did something that made it sound like he was Reid’s father. Not as obviously as Gideon had been, but certainly enough for everyone to know. Whoever walked through that door was about to deal with Hotch in what looks like a full-blown alpha male routine. Even Derek could admit Hotch was scary like that.

“Are you-“ She was cut off by the sound of Reid. Laughing. A proper, from-the-belly laugh.

They craned like teenage Meer cats to get a look, instead of the middle-aged officials they were.

Reid was dressed in a purple, casual shirt, with the top buttons undone and a darker tie loose round his neck. He looked happy, not having spotted them yet, with a big, child-like grin and sunlight streaking across his hazel irises. What really shocked them though was not his clear joyfulness (which had been harder and harder to see after Gideon died, on top of everything else) but the fact he was dragging a man into the pub by his hand, so obviously comfortable with the contact. The man was about Reid’s height, maybe an inch or so taller, which meant he was the tallest out of the team. He was wearing a dark red shirt, unbuttoned down about three, with skinny, black jeans and a black trench coat. All the clothes looked new and designer, except from the coat. He had dark auburn hair, left free down his neck and, though part of his face was covered by dark sunglasses, he was clearly handsome in a rugged way.

“Well, wouldn’t y’ know, can y’ here that accent?” Will muttered.

As the pair moved closer, the group heard a snippet of their conversation.

“If you had taken my route, we would have been here 5.3 minutes earlier and definitely would have avoided being pulled over.”

“Yeah, yeah, I told y’, cher, my car, my drivin’, so no back-seat drivin. An’ did we get a ticket? Non.”

That made Spencer snort.

“Only because you shamelessly charmed your way out of it.”

“What can I say? ‘m irresistible, me.” The man spoke with an actual smirk.

“Hi! Sorry we’re late. Everyone, this is Remy LeBeau, my boyfriend,” the man gave a sweeping bow, “Remy, this is: Aaron, or Hotch, Derek, Emily, Jenifer, or JJ, her husband Will, Penelope- who will call you or herself something inappropriate- David and Kate.” Remy shook their hands as they were introduced, while Spencer hovered nervously.

No one missed how he missed using their last names, which probably deliberate. He either had already told him enough previously that Remy already could match their last names to their first, so Spencer just needed to point out their face, or he wanted to keep them on a friendly, first name basis.

“Bonjour, can’t tell how good it is t’ finally meet Penny’s amis, he talk ‘bout y’rs a lot, all good t’ings though.” Remy’s smile, while welcoming, was oddly arrogant.

Hotch didn’t like him.

Derek didn’t like him.

JJ didn’t like him. Not for Spencer.

Garcia loved him. In fact, she squealed.

……

Two hours later and most of the team, minus Hotch, seemed to have been won over.

They liked him, sure, he was charming, funny and eventually, when he became comfortable enough, he loosed his cocky, defensive exterior, making him much more endearing to the group. However, some, and by some, Derek, JJ, Will and Emily, couldn’t understand how they were a couple. The only thing they seemed to share was a gift for talking none stop. Spencer was sweet, caring, ridiculously smart, and annoyingly oblivious to social situations. He also had a hidden devious side, when he understood it, a sense of humour, and a streak of steel. Remy, however, seemed over the top: a large ego and cocky nature; humour to the point of not taking things seriously and lazily charming. In his defence, he showed random moments of intelligence, wit and strong morality. He even seemed very caring towards Spencer- when he wasn’t teasing him. But there was something about him that set off their FBI alarm bells; as people who had faith in their gut and their profiling, they did not trust him. Especially Hotch, whose expression hadn’t softened once throughout the night. They just could not see how the two worked as a couple, which made Spencer all the more confusing, as they had never seen him this comfortable around anyone before.

“I like him. They’re good for each other.” Garcia said the second the couple left to bring over the drinks.

“Seriously? Baby girl, I can admit to liking him, but them working? Nah, I don’t see it.”

“I agree, just how the hell did they get together? Cause I bet it wasn’t at comic-con or a chess tournament.” Emily put in.

“Trust me, my lovelies, and have faith, if not in love, then me and my omniscient skills.” Garcia and Kate looked at each other knowingly.

“It won’t work, I don’t know how Spencer would fall for a- a cocky, self-centred man like him.” As the eyes fell upon JJ, she went to defend herself. “Come on, I’m not saying he’s horrible, or bad, but did you even think Spencer would get along with Remy? I’m not the only one who thought that Spencer would go for a socially incompetent genius.”

“Look at Spencer; I’ve never seen the kid so happy. People don’t tend to fall for their clones, JJ, it would be fun at first, but can you say you could tolerate Will if he was exactly like you?” argued Rossi, to the approval of Kate and Penelope.

Things were silent for a moment, and before Remy and Spencer started walking back, they heard Will mutter, “there’s somethin’ familiar bout him; I’ve seen him before, I’m sure I have.”

Remy and Spencer sat back down, passing out drinks between them. By some unspoken agreement; Remy took off his sun glasses, showing an inky black sclera and bright, ruby irises. He waited for a moment, but when no one commented, just smiled at him, he relaxed back in his chair squeezing Spencer’s hand for a second.

“So, Remy, how did you two meet?” Hotch directed his glare only at Remy.

“Ah, dat’s one of my best stories,” under Hotch’s glare, Remy shifted so he became boneless on the seat, instead of tensing or showing any signs of stress. “Remy here sometimes subs as a teacher in New York; I’m friends with most of the teachers and the headmaster- who Spencer was visitin’.”

“How come?” JJ knew Spencer rarely left Washington if not for a case.

“I published a psychology paper that he wished to discuss; he was thinking about using it in of his advanced courses. When he heard we were finishing up a case here, he phoned me.”

“After they talked f’r a bit, Remy heard the Professor wheelin’ down de corridor tryin’ to convince a homme to speak in a class,” Spencer shuddered. “Now, de Professor has a gift for things like that, so when Remy got there, I wasn’t surprised to see poor Penny there. I was surprised by seein’ Spencer up there; not some old, droning professor, but dis young homme dat were speakin’ a mile a minute with his endless qualifications- who den turned out to be part of de FBI- and then a mutant too!” He turned to smile at Spencer, and said, softer than before, “should o’ seen y’r eyes, Penny, sparkin’ with how nervous y’ were.”

Most had chuckled, or at least smiled, at the story.

“Well, poor Penny here was doin’ his best to lecture, only he saw dat what he were sayin’ was goin’ over de heads o’ everyone but de Professor and Hank. So, he asked if anyone had any questions, but o’ course none of the students were very keen. So I asked instead and next thing I know, I’ve heard a perfect explanation- understood all his ramble. The students picked up an’ it was Q&A for an hour! After that the students realised they had found de fountain o’ knowledge, an’ it were, dieu, 5? 5 o’clock before they stopped askin’ him questions on everythin’ from homework to their own interests, to just findin’ out what he knew! Course, he stayed for dinner after dat, but before I could talk to him myself, word had spread and he were surrounded by little un’s, an’ instead o’ panickin’ like he did with de oldies, he had them sat down, laughin’, with magic tricks!”

“Being a godfather to Henry helped, JJ, so you’re to thank.” Spencer smiled at his almost-sister; she grinned back.

“How did you end up actually talking then?”

“De kids finally had to go to bed and Penny was freed; I was de one who offered to take him back to his hotel. Conversation fell a bit flat at first, until Penny could figure out when I was teasing an’ I picked up on his quirks. After dat, we just got talkin’, school, jobs and dat but at de hotel, as I was leavin’ dis connard started to try an’ get Spencer in his pool game- he already had de money of about every player in de bar. An’ what d’ y’ know; Penny not only goes up, but hustles him out o’ everything!”

Most of them laughed, having fallen victim to Spencer’s pool or poker skills at some point or another.

“Well, dat got me curious and it became me vs Penny, tryin’ at first to out hustle eachother, then out play eachother… then one of us suggested poker and dat was dat. None of us took it seriously, it was just who could do the most cheats before one o’ us called de other out. After dat, we kept in touch; anyone who can beat me in poker is someone I need to keep my eye on.”

“Seriously? That was the big, romantic tale! No dramatic rescues, proclamations of love, eyes meeting across a crowded room? Just ‘I can cheat better than you!’” Penelope looked scandalised.

“I’m a New Orleans homme, cher, and Penny’s a Las Vegas homme at heart. It’s a match made in heaven.”

Spencer smiled, cheeks red, and stutteringly made his way to the bathroom. Remy’s eyes followed him in nothing less than adoration. But from their look, the group realized there was probably more to the story, or their bond, than what meets the eye.

“So, amis, are y’ goin’ to tell Remy here why y’s don’t like me?” Remy spoke pleasantly and lightly to the room, looking so casual, draped across his chair, but his red eyes were hard and, unsurprisingly, focused on Hotch.

“Oh Remy, we don’t-“

“Y’ don’t, mon ami,” he smiled at Penelope, “but I’m a good empath to know dat y’, Hotch, haven’t allowed y’rself one positive thought towards me all night, and y’s” -he gestured towards JJ, Will, Emily and Derek- “have been radiating y’r disapproval, no matter how much y’r like me. Now I’m not goin’ t’ get myself in a state because of it, but I don’t want Penny t’ be pickin’ it up; he’s as nervous as hell and loves y’s to pieces, it’ll hurt him if he realises it.”

“You seem awfully sure of that.” Hotch might as well be just as blunt, to do otherwise would be ridiculous at this point.

“Because I know the man I love.”

“You’ve known him six months.”

“I’ve been married; I’ve had an on-off relationship goin’ over years. I know my emotions, my mind, and I know what I’m like in a relationship. An’ I know that I’ve never felt towards anyone what I feel f’r Spencer.” As he spoke, the parts of the chair connected with his hand glowed a faint red, before fading away. “Nothing you have said or done all night suggests that you would be compatible.”

“Y’ haven’t known me three hours.”

The pair glared at eachother, but loosened immediately when Spencer came back. Emily, Derek and Will, while on the fence before, couldn’t help but rein in their disapproval, at least for now, after his speech. Spencer looked straight at Remy and the group could basically read their silent conversation.

_Are you alright?_

_Fine, cher, as always._

Spencer took in how the rest of the group was sat.

_Really? Your body language suggests otherwise._

_Don’t want to talk about it._

_…I’m here, I love you._

_I love you too._

 

Maybe they would work after all, thought Hotch.


End file.
